Helen Schneider is an American singer and actress whose success has come mainly in Europe, particularly Germany, where her single 'Rock 'n' Roll Gypsy' was a hit in 1981. She had a role in the 1983 Hollywood feature film 'Eddie and the Cruisers', which was not a success when first released but gained a cult following when it was shown on television. Since 1987, she also has performed on the stage in Europe including the musical 'End of the Rainbow' as Judy Garland.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, she learned to play the piano as a child and later formed a blues band that performed in clubs around the city and nearby towns. She ventured to Germany in 1978 and toured with Udo Lindenberg. Her theatrical debut came in 1987 when she played Sally Bowles, the lead in the musical 'Cabaret' at the Theater des Westerns in Berlin. Other stage roles include Norma Desmond in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical 'Sunset Boulevard' and Eva Peron in Webber's 'Evita'. She also has won acclaim for her one-woman shows 'A Walk On the Well Side' and 'Verwandlungen'.
Schneider made her recording debut in 1977 with the album 'So Close' followed the next year by 'Let It Be Now'. A concert release, 'Live in Hamburg' (1989) led to 'Crazy Lady' (1980) and three albums with The Kick. Other albums followed including 'Walk On the Well Side' (1989), 'Vagabond' (1991), 'Right As the Rain' (1995) and 'A Voice and a Piano' (2000). She took a break from the recording studio for several years until she returned with 'Like a Woman' in 2007 and 'Dream a Little Dream' a year later. Her latest release was 'Collective Memory' in Germany in 2015.
